Behind the Scenes ~ Book Storage

I recently got asked how I store all of our children's books. This was a very simple answer so I thought I would put it in a Behind the Scenes post! This issue haunted me at first as I had TONS of children's books even before I began homeschooling. I used to teach Kindergarten and had kept all of the books I purchased myself over the years. Finally I came up with a solution!

I bought cardboard magazine boxes, made labels for them and sorted the books by the general themes or concepts. Specifically I have these boxes from Ikea, and I used my printer to make the labels, you could use a label making machine or just hand write them! This makes it so much easier for me to find what we are studying at a particular time, or just to find books we want to read! As for my categories of books, I made them based on the books we had, trying to divide as much as I could to make it more simple to find things.I also keep our holiday/seasonal books like this so I can easily pull them down. I usually keep these in a special basket at the bottom of the bookshelf during that particular time so we can read them. I don't have a photo of it, but at the bottom of this bookshelf there is a shelf with no boxes-it is for Krash's books. Mostly board books, baby books, and stuff like that. Obviously those are on the bottom so he can easily get to them when he wants.

We also have books all over the house, I just keep our main storage here (it's in our living room). I rotate out books for the boys in their rooms from here. Pac Man is also old enough to find what he is looking for and also help me put books back in the correct boxes- it's awesome!

Activity Pack ~ The Land Before Time

**Edited to Add: Here is the link to the cards in PDF form! I have been really sick, sorry it took me a few days to get them up!

Both of my boys love the Land Before Time movies. Recently Pac Man asked me what type of dinosaur each character was and honestly I didn't know!! SO, I made the boys an activity pack and included a few fun things for both of them, to further enjoy their love of this movie, these characters, and also hopefully to learn a little bit!

In the manila clasp envelope, I put:

• Matching Cards (1 card has the character, one card has the real dino name)-for Pac Man. I made these from info I got from their website.
• Coloring Pages of each dino-got these from the movie site.
• Dino fact sheet cards-so Pac Man could learn a bit more about these real dinos. I got these from Enchanted Learning.

We also had fun making the characters out of Play Doh together! I LOVED that it was something BOTH of my boys were interested in and we could all do together!

Our final creatures...My hope is that Pac Man will go back to this and work on labeling the dinos and learn the names. I hope he will also take time to read the facts about the dinos. As for Krash, he just loved the Play Doh part and seeing his dino friends on the cards! We talked a lot about colors and different features of each dino (horns, legs, tail, spikes, etc.).

In the Works ~ Duck Lapbook

We began our lapbook all about DUCKS today! Pac Man (almost 7 now) loves ducks, especially ducklings, and chose this as his next lapbok. I could not find a complete (free) duck lapbook online so I created one based on this book From Egg to Duck (How Things Grow) for him. We have this book as a part of a entire series we got for around $20, I love snatching up deals like that! **If you're not a member of LES, you should be, that's where I got these, and many other GREAT deals).This will be the first lapbook he is more responsible for independently. I have introduced all of the minit books to him, and all of the answers are found in the book, I even slid each minit book in the pages where it has the answers. He will complete this one on his own, learning independently. He was really excited about this! I will share the files and final product when we are done!

i heart faces ~ Week 7 b&w...

This is my son "Krash", outside playing in the snow last month...

(tech info: f 4.5/500, Canon 40D, Canon 28-105mm lens, ISO 500)

Visit i heart faces to see more great entries!

Tot School ~ Back in the Schoolroom!!!

~Krash is currently 33 months old~

For my regular readers, you will understand the title of this Tot School post, as you may remember we shut down our actual schoolroom to save $$ on heating costs this winter. It was HARD not being in there, and finally I said, "NO more!" I had the generous help of my wonderful husband and mother-in-law, and we got it rearranged and all cleaned up! And look, I even got a new shelf (not new, but new to the schoolroom) that holds Krash's Tot School stuff perfectly! This is his little area...

Now I can finally make school-time special again, as the schoolroom stays shut when it's not school time. This has REALLY worked for Krash, and he has been even more excited to do *Tot School* each time I ask him to go in with me!

Obviously we did a lot of tray work this week, if you missed my posts about trays last week, go here, and here to catch up :). Here's our many photos from the week...

Gluing foam hearts, he did NOT like this...Play Doh with heart shaped cookie cutters, he LOVED this!Matching board...loved it, but only wanted to do it once. You can read more about the matching boards here.By FAR his favorite new tray...cutting! I think he cut all of his strips up every day this past week, he loves to cut!!!I did not think he would like this but he did!!!!! He had to clip the correct colored clothespins onto the pipe cleaner circles I had for him. He was SO proud of himself!!! He still loves his stacking cups...He enjoyed the pasta into the sugar shaker tray...Cutting, again!!!! We worked on counting 1:1 from 1 to 4, and by the end of the week we added 5, he did well. He does need to keep practicing with this! Those are little seashells he's working with.He sorted yellow and blue glittery pom poms...He played with his Lacing Beads, another of his favorites...Pasta again, he liked doing it with Pac Man this time... I added a different puzzle to the shelves each day, he loved when he saw this one!He loved playing with the Dino File Folder game... We played with his Discovery Toys bug set, and he always has fun with these. This day he piled them all in this basket, then got in and pushed them through the holes as we named the colors!Since he liked the first dino folder so much, I made him the other one, he liked this one even better!Finally, we got out our lacing toys, he didn't stick with this very long this day-usually he likes these.And for those of you wondering, the bright colored trays are from Oriental Trading online, the red and blue trays are from the $1 section at Target (not there anymore though), the square shelf we're using for his tray storage is from Target, and the little wooden boxes you see on some of the trays are from his various Melissa and Doug toys!

• Read more about Tot Trays here!
• Visit our NEW SITE...Totally Tots!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE!
• Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
• Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
• Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to Mr Linky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

New: when you add your name(blog name) to Mr. Linky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (33 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!

Free EBook!

I just got my email newsletter from Barker Creek today and there was a "coupon" for a wonderful free E book! I was actually just thinking of ordering something like this for Pac Man's summer work, but now I don't have to!!! In case you'd like to get your free copy, send an email to this address: freebies@barkercreek.com and then within seconds their email with the link will come back!!! I have browsed through the book and it is great, I am so excited! They have a great site too, so if you've never been there be prepared to hold-back, you'll want to buy tons of stuff (if you are anything like me!!!!) If you do place an order, they also give you a code for another free E book with your paid order, I held back-for now, at least!

Behind the Scenes ~ Tot Trays

I know most of you probably read my Tot School post from this past Sunday, but if you didn't read it first, then you'll know what I am talking about ~ Tot Trays :). Now, I will answer any questions I could think of that readers might ask :) and if I don't answer yours, put it below in the comments and I will!

First, WHY Trays?

• Let me begin by saying that I am in NO way saying that my beliefs are right, they are just MY beliefs. I share openly about what I believe when it comes to educating young children, and yes I do have a college degree, but that in no way makes me any smarter than others out there. I just share what I believe!
• The TRAY itself: I believe the tray itself provides a sense of space for a young child. When all items are contained on a tray (or a mat, or something similar), it is easier for the child to visualize all involved with the activity and also how to CLEAN it up! Cleaning up is a huge part of this method for me.
• The ACTIVITIES: I believe in providing simple, yet engaging activities that sometimes expose a skill and sometimes are just fun! I love the discussion times these trays provide. I love the concentration required. I love that Krash is developing perseverance, focus, and determination to accomplish tasks. I love the vocabulary alone that stems from the tray activities, it really is endless. I love that I can change up the activities easily without a ton of work each evening. I love that most of the items on the trays aren't *toys* so they are refreshing for Krash and engaging.
• The ENVIRONMENT: Trays provide a more neat and orderly environment for a tot, it is easy to see where the activities are, what is involved, how to clean up, and where to put the tray back. These types of activities also (usually) stimulate a quieter environment as many of the activities require much focus from the tot! In a world of LOUD chaos (at least with MY tot), I enjoy the difference in these types of activities.
• WHEN: Krash only uses these trays during SCHOOL time. They are not toys, they are not free-play items. My idea behind this is to keep them special and engaging. When a child sees them over and over again, anytime, they become just like the rest of his toys. Sometimes this is hard to manage but that is the goal. We have only recently gone back to this method and he will get used to it more and more as we go on.

Tell me about your shopping spree you spoke of in your Tot School post...

Here's where I went, with items linked up if I could find them online. Many of these items were pictured in my Tot School post (or will be soon :) )

AC Moore:

• round paint tray
• pom poms (bought 3 bags, of the colors we didn't have already)
• Valentines Day items for our seasonal collection (2-$1 tins, 1-1$ plastic heart jar, heart cookie cutters)
• pipe cleaners (we just happened to be almost out!)
• Cookie cutters-with a spring/Easter theme

Dollar Tree:

• heart sticks
• heart shaped ice cube tray
• skinny long colored spoon assortment
• cookie cutters assortment
• foam beads in a box
• pack of 4 colored clips

Ikea: (I am SO sorry for those of you who don't live near an Ikea, that have the best stuff for trays!)

• pitcher
• funnels
• small jars
• small ceramic pitcher (part of a creamer/sugar bowl set (we kept the sugar bowl for our kitchen!
• sugar shaker
• tea light holders
• hammering activity
• salad server spoons
• hanging storage
• boxes to go into the hanging storage

~edited to add... the trays themselves are from Oriental Trading, here. As of 7/2010 they no longer carry these trays. I wrote a post sharing alternatives here.

I did not spend a ton of money, and many of these items will be used over and over again. These were just some things I wanted to get at this point, to go along with what we already had. And yes, I do have an educational supply shopping addiction (so my husband says).

How do you organize ALL OF THE STUFF?

• I decided this FIRST, as I knew if I just brought home a bunch of stuff and mixed it in with the rest of our supplies, I would become overwhelmed with the whole idea and give up. So, when I went shopping, that was my very first priority and I knew I was not coming home until I had the solution! Here it is...The drawers are long, which is really nice for things like pipe cleaners, spoons, etc. Below is a photo of our bottle top collection...
• I got a closet shoe hanging thing, that has drawer/box things to go inside. I didn't have any floor space to put a new shelf or drawers or anything so when I saw this-the light bulb went off! We hang ours inside of our guest room/office "closet" area.
• I made labels for all of the drawers and now that I am home, I plan to get one more red thing and set of boxes, just to not run out of storage-it's worth it to me. I hung the labels on with key ring things I got at an educational supply store.
• I also added a set of plastic drawers that I already had, knowing I would need larger spaces for some things. The main idea for this is the items I am collecting from the house (plastic bottles-my favorite is our coffee creamer bottles with the label torn off, TP tubes, PT tubes, and other bigger items we are now saving).
• I am using a couple of the shelves in the *closet* to store some of the bigger items also, I still need to work on this area.
• I am not entirely done with the space as I write this, but it will continue to be a work in progress, as all things storage and school related are!

How do you organize your IDEAS in your head when it comes to planning for these types of activities?

I think in the way of tray-themes, then change up within those. Here's my *theme list* so far:

• Transferring
• Pouring
• Beading
• Spooning
• Pasta Fun
• Sorting
• Counting
• Matching
• Small Spaces
• Cutting
• Gluing
• Stickers
• Simple Art/Crafts
• Fine Motor-Muscle Skills

By keeping to these themes, I can wrap my brain around it easier and come up with simple ways to make it fun! I can also list out new ideas under a category-or add a new category!

Speaking of NEW IDEAS, I always find tons of ideas while blog-surfing but have a hard time implementing them (or remembering them), how do you manage this?

• I struggled with this also, and finally made myself a sheet to keep next to my computer. I will give you the link for it at the end of this post. I jot down the name of the idea, and where I found it. THEN I add it to a folder in my Internet bookmarks so I can come back to it when I am ready to see it again.
• If it is something I plan to make right away, I will just jot down my materials list and put in our current school plans!
• I plan to come up with an even better way to sort new ideas as we get going, but this is my start!

What ages would you recommend these activities for?

• I must tell you I am not a big age-range-suggester. WHY? Because I firmly believe that every child is unique and different and you must take the time to truly know your own child. I always post Krash's age in my Tot School posts to give readers an idea, but kids are different!
• I recommend starting simple, with the easiest of ideas and just see how your tot does! If an activity is frustrating for your tot (or you), then put it on the "later on" list!
• Many of the tray activities are even enjoyed by my oldest son (age 6 1/2), that's the cool thing about trays-they are simple but fun.

WAIT, THERE"S MORE!!!!

I made a new webpage all about Tot Trays! There's ideas already there and I have tried to go into as much detail as possible to help you out if you're looking to add this type of learning to your home. I plan to continually update this page, with ideas, photos, etc. so be sure to bookmark it if you are interested! On this page you will find:

• The link to the New Ideas sheet
• Items to Collect sheet, and Shopping Ideas (stores, lists, etc.)
• Each *tray theme* outlined (with photos if I have them already)
• More info about storage
• My Labels (either for you to use exactly or to gather ideas to make your own)

As I said above, if you have any other questions about Tot Trays, please leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them there. I will also add more to the webpage itself as I get new photos and ideas!

Behind the Scenes ~ Routines, Schedules and Planning

I have gotten lots of emails and comments lately asking about my daily school routine/schedule and/or planning routine. I will do my best to give you a Behind the Scenes look into this area of our life, but I must warn you, the answers may surprise you!

I think I tend to *look* rather organized and in control on my blog(s) but in real life I am a bit all over the place. So I will be very transparent here for you all, and you will see I am not the super-mom some of you think I am!

Here are some of the most common questions I have gotten...

What is your daily schedule?

• Honestly...I am a daily schedule drop-out. I tried, even made a lovely schedule to hang up on the wall and we followed it for awhile. Then I realized that it just didn't jive with us. So we have switched to more of a general routine, with no set schedule. For those of you interested in seeing how we began, and my lovely intentions of having a schedule, here ya go...

So here goes the next question...

What does your general daily routine look like?

Now that I can answer, we do have one of those ;). I will give you the long drawn out details the best I can for a *normal* day at home right now. Keep in mind I am pregnant, my husband works odd hours (we are missionaries), and this is not EVERY day!

• 8:00-8:30 Daddy feeds boys breakfast and I have "me" time (mostly computer, and getting ready)
• 8:30-9:00-no real plans, Daddy leaves at 9, so sometimes this is just transition time.
• 9:00-10:30ish-I focus on Krash and Tot School. During this time Pac-Man will do a few independent school work items, then play with us some. Pac Man will also have some free time during this time frame too (depends on my stress level of handling him being a part of Tot School-sometimes the fighting is just too much for me).
• 10:30ish-11:30ish-I am usually worn out by this time and will put in a movie for Krash, or he will play on his own, depends on how difficult he is being that day.
• 11:30-I begin preparing lunch, the kids just play
• 12:00ish-we eat lunch.
• after lunch: Krash goes down for a nap.
• While I am putting Krash down, Pac-Man does his silent reading time.
• 1:00ish-3:00ish Pac-Man's focused school time with me. We do not go in any particular subject order, we just get done what we need to get done and tyr our best to enjoy our couple of hours alone together!

I hope that helps. Here's a bit more info about us...YES my kids do watch tv, yes they play video games, yes they drive me nuts, yes I look like a horrible mom some days, yes I just tell them to leave me alone for awhile sometimes, yes I LOVE THEM DEARLY and wouldn't want life any other way than this way-homeschooling! Oh and yes we spend some days out of the house. Krash takes a gym class at the Y on Tues and Thurs, and Pac plays soccer for the Y too. Daddy also takes them out a lot when he can. We also go to fun children's places when I have the energy (which isn't much lately).

How do you plan for Krash? (Tot School, age 33 mos)

• I didn't plan much until recently. I kept all of my ideas on a list and my tools/toys in one area and just chose activities. I have now begun to plan more to be a bit more focused. I plan to do an extensive post on this soon.

How do you plan for Pac-Man? (currently ending 1st grade in a few weeks)

• I usually plan weekly for Pac Man, and have used many different planning sheets. I have added them to my site (blanks of course) in case they could be of help to any of you. Currently I use the weekly planning sheet found in the Old School House Planner.

  

  I could make it on my own, and honestly don't know why I am sticking with this one, but I am, I like it.
• I fill out our weekly plans for the week on Sat or Sunday, and pull all worksheets necessary.
• Each morning, I get out the materials for the day and decide what Pac could do independently. We usually go over this in the morning. So if I say, "go complete something," he knows what his options are.

As I said above, I have another Behind the Scenes post in the works detailing Tot School planning, and hope to have it done in a few weeks at least! If you have any questions you hope I address in that, leave them below or email me! Any other routine/schedule questions, leave them in the comments so I can answer them directly in the comments section of this post so others can see!

Tot School ~ Back to the Trays!

~Krash is currently 33 months old~

For those of you who are new(er) readers (or unfamiliar with my background), I will briefly explain why I am titling this post "Back to the Trays". You see, I have a passion for Montessori type learning, with a bit of a modern twist. I did an internship in a Montessori classroom while obtaining my early-childhood degree back in the day and I LOVED it. My twist is, I am not a die-hard believer in the particulars of the method, therefore I modify it and wouldn't call ours a Montessori type of homeschool. BUT, many of my ideas and beliefs come from that internship and many wonderful Montessori blogs I read.

For us, our Montessori-style spin comes in the form of the trays, we used to do stuff like this, but then I got away from it (mainly from poor planning on my part). This past week, I dove back in and we have had a GREAT week because of it! Krash has really taken to the idea of the trays, and the assortment of simple activities I am providing him with. I even finally went on a big shopping spree for many of the "wanted tools" that had been on my list and for very little money, I stocked up on many items, and a way to store it all. I am in a process of writing a post all about what I got and how I am storing it and using it-stay tuned, I HOPE to have it up sometime this week!

This is how I set up our trays (got them here) each day, since we lack a shelf to put them on-this is the best way I can come up with for now...

Krash then tells me which tray he would like to work with and I help him take it down and we begin. Here's what was on the trays at various points during the week and what K thought of them!!!

He loved transferring the pom-poms with tongs...
Stringing beads onto pipe cleaners...
Pouring beads...I set up hole-punching mainly for my oldest son, but K dove right in and I was shocked he could do it!
He even taught Shamu how to do it!!!The next day I kept some activities similar, and some I just changed up a few details-he LOVED seeing what was new, and also practicing skills he had done the day before. I added a heart shaped ice-cube tray (from Dollar Tree) and a little Valentine Tin ($1.00 from AC Moore) for the pom-pom/tong activity...We added spooning jewels into mini tea light holders, this was by far his FAVORITE tray of the week. (the colored spoons were from Dollar Tree in a large pack, the tin from AC Moore, the jewels are the ones you find in little sacks at Dollar Tree, Michaels, or somewhere like that)I switched up beading to add the heart-sticks (from Dollar Tree), he wanted to play golf with them first...
Then he put the beads on them. He didn't really like this though and left it quickly!I made him a Hide-n-Seek bowl, you can read more about that here!

I switched up pouring with a new pitcher and a fishy cup. He loved this, I think since he could see the beads inside of the pitcher!I added a hammering activity... Added a funnel and a tiny pitcher to the pouring, he LOVED this!!!Switched to big tongs, big pom poms in a new container for him to practice unscrewing (this was from AC Moore) and a bigger tray (from AC Moore, in the paint section).

We didn't only use trays this week, but they were a large part of our Tot School time. We also played many different games with our Twister Hopscotch rings, here he is jumping into the colors I yell out!We dot painted...And painted with regular paints another day!It was a really fun week and I am going to stick with the trays I think, I loved the time we had together each day, it seemed much more calm. I am trying to help Krash develop his perseverance skills and also his focus, I think these tray activities really help with that.

• Visit our NEW SITE...Totally Tots!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE!
• Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
• Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
• See our Tot School Squidoo Lens HERE
• Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to Mr Linky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

New this week: when you add your name(blog name) to Mr. Linky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (33 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!